The Megadome

Will Cebu have its Megadome in 2006?

Before I continue with my planned series of columns on what went right and what went wrong in sports for 2005, allow me to tackle the Megadome for a few paragraphs.

I believe there is no argument to the need for a Megadome. If we have one, this will mean a lot more activity in Cebu and with a lot more activity, this means more money being poured into the economy.

The contention of the anti-Megadome proponents is that by spending P250 million on one major project could mean sacrificing the delivery of basic services to the constituents of Cebu Province.

With the new alliances at the Capitol, it seems that the budget for the super structure will be out soon and construction will follow shortly.

What makes me really excited about the Megadome is the fact that Cebu is going to have a venue for major international sporting events. However, to sustain the operation of this Megadome, whoever will be tasked to run it must find ways to spur year-round activity and business to make it viable.

We probably have ideas how to go about it, but I suggest a very careful and thorough study so that we will not one day wake up to see the Megadome close due to the lack of funds to operate it.

If the Megadome project really pushes through in 2006, then the coming year should be an exciting one. Let's support the Megadome project!

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The expulsion of the Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP) from the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) became a major story for 2005. After years of bickering, the basketball officials suddenly found themselves out in the cold.

This is the reason why there was no basketball event in the 23rd Southeast Asian Games (SEAG).

There were efforts to get the sport included in the SEAG, but the POC took a very tough stance and refused to budge. I'd rather leave the solution of that problem to our sports leaders. Though I would say I am not exactly a big fan of basketball in terms of promoting it to the grassroots level, I am a big fan of sports and any sporting activity that brings people together is good.

Following that reasoning, then basketball is definitely good, but its leaders must agree on what they really want to do.

The expulsion of the BAP somehow became a bitter lesson not only the basketball body, but also to other sports associations hounded by internal conflict.

This is probably the good that came out of BAP's expulsion, but I sincerely hope that things would be straightened out soon.

The Philippine Football Federation (PFF), which recently encouraged its officials and members to unite in order to avoid a similar problem as the BAP, probably had a pretty good year until the country's failure to make it to the semifinals of the SEA Games.

The Philippines has never been known to be a football power. In fact, the country's best-ever performance was making it to the last four in the 1991 SEAG in Manila.

I would not say our national team was lacking in talent with the Fil-Europeans being tapped to add power to the squad, but rather we lack more support in terms of a year-round program that would develop the sport all over the country.

Yes, there are tournaments on a regular basis, but by regular we mean coming a few months between each other, which I believe is not enough to fully support football.

Many bright ideas have come out from the different sectors, but then ideas will just be ideas until somebody puts them into action.

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MILESTONES: Happy birthday greetings to my cousins Carlo Jann A. Quiñones and Dennis C. Iway, who are both turning a year older tomorrow.

Belated birthday greetings to my aunt, Ofelia Q. Gabbidon, who celebrated her birthday last Sunday.